Inside the palace of Prince Qi.

Manfu is full of grain.

General Pingdong, Sima Sui, King of Beihai, Infantry Colonel Sima Rui, King of Donglai, Governor of Qingzhou, King Yan Sima Ji, and King Xinye, the eldest son of King Qi, Sima Chao, are all gathered in the palace of King Qi.

The mansion is full of pure elements, so naturally there are also pure places.

Sima Rui, King of Donglai, was the eldest son of Sima You, King of Qi Xian, and the eldest brother of Sima Jiong, King of Qi.

Sima Ji, King of Beihai, was Sima Jiong's third brother.

The reason why the position of King Qi was finally inherited by Sima Jiong was because his eldest brother, second brother, and third brother were all adopted by other sect kings who had no children.

For example, Sima Rui, King of Donglai, succeeded his uncle Sima Dingguo, King of Liaodong, and was granted the title of King of Liaodong. In the fourth year of Taikang, he was granted the title of King of Donglai.

Sima Shi, King of Beihai, succeeded Queen Shang of Guanghan and was renamed King of Beihai.

As for Sima Zan, the second brother of Sima Jiong who is no longer alive, he is also the successor of Sima Guangde, the war king of Guanghan.

In the end, the younger Sima Jiong became the oldest and most senior person, and finally inherited the position of King of Qi.

Of course, this was also what Sima You did intentionally.

Among his many sons, King Sima Ji of Qi was the most outstanding.

Otherwise, he would not adopt his eldest son.

"Elders, King Qi has passed away, and the world is bound to be in chaos. It is not a good thing to stay in Luoyang now. If your Majesty goes crazy, the fate of the old King Qi is right in front of you." King Xinye said slowly.

The body of Qi King Sima Jiong is now resting in this mansion!

"Since your Majesty has killed the old King of Qi, he will not attack anyone else. Besides, in the mountains and wilds of our country, Donglai, we have few places to eat, so it would be better to stay in Luoyang."

On one side, King Beihai showed hesitation on his face, but he still nodded slightly.

"It would be great to stay in Luoyang."

Sima Chao's face suddenly showed a look of worry.

"Uncle, there are 20,000 households in your country, how can you live freely in a feudal country?"

"this..."

Sima Shi glanced at Sima Rui, but finally said nothing.

King Yan on the side snorted, but he knew the details.

"Of King Qi Xian's sons, I'm afraid only Sima Jiong is successful. The other two are insignificant."

King Yan actually said this in such a tone.

He, Sima Ji, was the son of Emperor Wen Sima Zhao, and inherited the title of Marquis Qing Huiting, the younger brother of Emperor Wen.

In the first year of Taishi, he was granted the title of King of Yan and had 6,663 households in the city.

In the country of Sima Ji, Xianning was first recruited as an infantry school captain. He benefited the country with Yuyang County and added the uniform of a servant. He paid homage to the governor of Qingzhou and General Zhendong. During the holidays, he took Beiping, Shanggu and Guangning County for 1300

Thirty-seven households increased the number of Yan kingdom to 20,000 households.

Unlike the current Sima Rui and Sima Shi, he was a prince with real power.

The State of Yan was the area around Hebei in later generations, that is, the area around Beijing and Tianjin. At this time, there were Tuoba Xianbei and the Xianbei in the east were rampant. The State of Yan had soldiers, and they had strong soldiers.

Beihai Kingdom and Donglai Kingdom were both located in Shandong in later generations. The land of Qilu was naturally not mountainous, but it was definitely not prosperous.

As for having soldiers in the country, that is even more nonsense.

Moreover, King Yan is one generation higher than King Donglai and King Beihai.

Sure enough, after being scolded by King Yan, Sima Rui, King of Donglai, and Sima Shi, King of Beihai, immediately stopped talking.

Of course there is a reason why they don't want to leave Luoyang.

Here, we have to talk about the clan-king system of the Western Jin Dynasty.

During the Cao Wei Dynasty, the policy of "strictly banning the clan" was implemented. Not only did the clan kings have a small country, a poor place, and a small population, they also had no actual power or even freedom of movement.

According to historical records, the kings of the Cao Wei clan "were not allowed to go more than thirty miles for hunting", and the central government "set up defenses and auxiliary officials to supervise the country."

Therefore, the kings of the Cao Wei clan appeared to be princes with incomparable glory, but in fact they were like prisoners, and they were constantly under the supervision of the court.

Here is an example that illustrates the problem:

Once, Cao Zhi, King of Chen Si, and Cao Biao, King of White Horse, returned to the feudal country from Luoyang.

Since the two brothers had not seen each other for a long time, they "wanted to return east together to share their feelings about the vast distance between them, but the envoys who supervised the country did not listen."

In other words, Cao Zhi and Cao Biao wanted to use this little time together to talk about their brotherhood.

However, even such a small request was rejected by the "envoys to supervise the country", that is, the spies.

It is said that Cao Zhi was so angry at the time that he wrote a poem to curse these unreasonable envoys.

However, Cao Zhi could only scold him, which did not help at all.

It is precisely because the Cao Wei Dynasty "strictly banned" the kings that "the princes all wanted to be commoners but could not." That is to say, everyone in the Cao Wei clan wanted to be a commoner, but even this wish could not be realized.

In the early years of the Western Jin Dynasty, courtiers began to reflect on history. Many people believed that the reason why Cao Wei was easily replaced was precisely because of its policy of "strict prohibition on clans". They believed that this policy caused many problems.

The king had no strength and could not play the role of defending the center.

It was based on this understanding that Sima Yan, Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty, "punished the Wei family for its isolation, so he made a large number of clans" and granted dozens of princes and kings with the same surname.

Theoretically speaking, the power held by the kings of the Western Jin Dynasty should be very large, because if the clan kings are to have the strength of the central vassal guard, they must be given real power.

However, a theory is just a theory after all, and the facts are another matter.

Because the establishment of a political system or the adjustment of a policy must be limited by the conditions of the times in which it exists.

What are the limitations of the times?

To give a simple analogy, you cannot ask people in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties to drive BMWs or ride Mercedes-Benz, because the only means of transportation in that era were horse-drawn carriages and ox-drawn carts. So, what era conditions limited the power of the feudal kings of the Western Jin Dynasty?

Woolen cloth?

The conditions of this era are mainly reflected in the following two aspects:

The first is that the authoritarian centralized system established and consolidated since the Qin and Han Dynasties was more suitable for the economic foundation at that time. This system was relatively complete during the Western Jin Dynasty and could not be reversed. As princes and feudal states subordinate to the imperial power,

The power it possesses must be subject to the autocratic imperial power.

The second is that the long-term wars since the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty seriously damaged the social economy at that time. Although the Western Jin Dynasty once again achieved the unification of the country, the severely damaged social economy could not be restored in an instant.

The most directly visible thing is population.

The most prosperous period of the Jin Dynasty was the Taikang period. However, the total population of the country in the first year of Taikang was only 16.16 million, which was far behind the more than 29 million people at the end of the Western Han Dynasty.

As a result, the size and conditions of the kingdom must also be restricted by it.

Moreover, according to regulations, most of the tax revenue from the households where the kings live must go to the central finance, and the final part that the kings can get is probably one-third of it.

Take King Sima Mu of Zhongshan as an example. Although his feudal state had a total of 32,000 households, he could only collect taxes from 5,200 of them. Two-thirds of the tax revenue from these 5,200 households had to be handed over to the

From the central government of the Western Jin Dynasty, he could only get one-third, which meant that Sima Mu's actual tax revenue was only 1,400 households.

Although the King of Yan and the King of Beihai had 20,000 households, their final tax revenue was only 1,000 households.

Not to mention that there are not 20,000 households in the Sima Rui food town. The real food town is actually only a few hundred households.

It can be seen that the financial power of the kings is actually very small, and the main body of the financial power of the feudal country is still controlled by the central government.

Secondly, in the appointment of officials in the kingdom, the kings were actually restricted by the central government.

In the early years of the Western Jin Dynasty, kings were allowed to "select their own civil and military officials." But in fact, this "self-selection" was always subject to strict supervision by the central government, and it was impossible to do whatever they wanted.

Sima Shu, the king of Liang, once selected Zhang Fan as the middle official of the kingdom. However, Zhang Fan had bad conduct and had violated the law. As a result, Sima Shu was imprisoned by "Yousi" for his improper selection. As punishment,

He was deprived of a county fief.

In view of this, the timid kings did not dare or were unwilling to choose their own officials.

The kingdom of Qixian King Sima You once lacked a long history, but he refused to choose himself, and even issued a special order, saying: "Selecting officials and appointing people is a matter for the central government, and the kingdom should not get involved in this matter.

"

When Langxie King Sima Min was granted the title of King of Dongguan County, he also tried his best to refuse the privilege of selecting officials by himself, hoping that the central government would provide officials for his feudal state.

As this situation increased day by day, the appointment power of the royal officials was probably soon returned to the central government.

The kingdom's army is all equipped by the central government, which means that the command of the kingdom's army is actually still in the hands of the central government, and the kings have no right to mobilize or command the feudal army at will.

It can be seen from the above three points that the kings of the Western Jin Dynasty were strictly restricted and controlled by the Western Jin Dynasty regardless of their financial power, political power, or military power. Therefore, the feudal kings were only a special local institution under the authoritarian centralized system.

It is for this reason that for a long period of time, the kings of the Western Jin Dynasty were eager to stay in Luoyang, the capital, and were unwilling to take office in the feudal country.

When he was really forced to take office in Fengguo, when he left the capital, "all fell in love with the capital and left in tears." This means that many people came to Fengguo and took office in Fengguo with tears in their eyes.

The King of Yan is relatively good, because he relies on the Yan State and has strong soldiers.

If you have soldiers, you have power.

But King Dongnae and King Bukhae did not have strong soldiers.

The clan-king system of the Western Jin Dynasty can indeed restrain most princes.

But there are some that cannot be restrained.

For example, the deceased Qi King Sima Jiong.

He increased his troops in Xuchang and colluded with aristocratic families. Even if the court knew about it, they did not dare to say anything.

On the one hand, it is because of King Qi's identity, and on the other hand, it is because of King Qi's strength.

Another example is naturally the King of Hejian, Sima Yong.

Sima Yong was sitting in the land of Guanzhong, Chang'an was fertile and wild for thousands of miles, but most of them were foreigners and the situation was extremely turbulent. Moreover, there was thousands of years of military calamity ahead, so it was natural to increase the number of troops.

But breaking regulations and increasing troops also meant that the King of Hejian had control over these armies.

If it were an emperor who had strong control over the country, he might have changed Sima Yong's fiefdom.

But Sima Yu knew that he couldn't change it now.

I'm afraid that as soon as he gives this order, the whole Yongzhou will be in chaos in an instant.

In the end, the King of Hejian would not surrender because of the Yongzhou rebellion, and if the court wanted to resolve the Guanzhong rebellion, it would have to march westward again.

This Western Expedition is different from the last Western Expedition of Qi Wannian. This time the King of Hejian colluded with the rebellious forces. Whether they can win or not is still unknown.

And even if we win, it will be a miserable victory.

This is a bad deal.

This is also the reason why Sima Yong, the king of Hejian, dared to be so arrogant and became the number one prince in the world who did not return to his country.

A big fist means truth.

If the King of Yan returns to the Kingdom of Yan, the emperor will think twice about taking action against him, but in Luoyang, killing him is just a matter of words.

He naturally knows the pros and cons.

"King Xinye, tomorrow morning, you will take the lead in writing the letter. I will support you from behind. If your Majesty does not agree, we will die on our knees."

King Yan decided to make a tough move.

"As for the two of you who want to stay in Luoyang, you can stay in Luoyang, but if your head is not guaranteed, then you can't ask for it to be on my head, hum!"

After saying this, King Yan waved his sleeves and left, leaving behind two Sima Rui and Sima Shi who looked slightly embarrassed.

Sima Rui was originally at odds with Sima Jiong. In his opinion, the position of King Qi belonged to him because he was the eldest son, but in the end, this position was given to Sima Jiong, who had been bullied by him since childhood.

Since you can't stand it anymore, just let's break it up.

Sima Rui snorted coldly and left directly.

Now it was the turn of Beihai King Sima Shi to look embarrassed.

"Hey, they are all members of our own family, so why do we do this?"

Sima Chao had a look of displeasure on his face.

I thought that as a relative, I would be a great help, but in the end, I had nothing to offer, and instead, I was trying to show off to the family.

It’s okay not to have such a close relative.

"Uncle, please."

Sima Chao made a sign to see off guests.

Sima Shi felt his butt was on fire, so he had no choice but to chase Sima Rui quickly.

After Beihai King Sima Shi left, Sima Chao bowed to the New Wild King and said, "In that case, I'll leave it to you, Your Majesty."

The new king nodded slightly.

Return to the country, return to the country.

Even if this guy doesn't do it, he won't be able to do it.

.....

Early next morning.

It was rare for the emperor to come to court early.

The purpose of this morning court was, of course, to arrange the issues concerning the refugees in Yongzhou and Liangzhou and the beginning of spring farming.

Of course, the emperor also had other considerations.

As for the kings, they knew that the emperor's early court appearance was like a shark that smelled something fishy. It was so early in the morning, before dawn, and in the weather that it was so cold that it could freeze a person's nose into popsicles.

We waited in front of the palace gate.

At this time, the palace gate has not yet opened.

Therefore, there was a very magical scene in the morning court today. Outside the Taiji Hall, the ministers originally came early, while the princes often arrived later, and some were even absent.

But today, they came extra early and fast.

People are also very neat.

When the court opened in the morning, Emperor Sima Yu saw that the number of people in the palace was less than half the usual number, and he naturally understood the reason for this.

"Go to court~"

The chief minister raised his voice and directly announced that today's morning session had begun.

Just when the emperor was about to get to the point directly and let King Zhao serve as the governor of Yongzhou's disaster relief and farming affairs, King Xinye, holding a wat board, stepped forward to speak faster than the emperor.

"Your Majesty, I have something to report."

Being preempted to speak, Sima Yu naturally felt uncomfortable.

"If you have the book, just play it."

"promise."

King Xinye took a deep breath and spoke slowly.

"Emperor Wu pardoned and ennobled the king of the clan, established the foundation of the country, ensured the stability of the world, controlled the four borders, and monitored the peace of the world. However, it has long since passed the time for the kings to return to the country, and the kings have still not returned to the country, and the kings are stranded in Kyoto. It will definitely have a great influence on Your Majesty and the imperial court, and some may even be arrogant and interfere in important affairs of the imperial court. Therefore, Emperor Wu has already made a stipulation that the kings are not allowed to stay in Luoyang for a long time without special permission."

"Now that the kings are staying in the capital, I am so frightened that I dare to ask you to return home."

King Xinye was very smart. He did not directly say that he would return to the country. Instead, he stood in Sima Yu's position and said what harm would happen if the kings stayed in Luoyang.

He looks like a good minister.

But Sima Yu couldn't help but sneer in his heart.

"I also think this should be the case."

King Yan immediately came out to support him.

Sima Yi, the king of Changshan, followed closely behind.

After that, a large group of convinced sect kings came together to ask for orders.

For a moment, the palace was full of people kneeling down.

"Your Majesty, it is normal for the prince to return to his country. Why doesn't your Majesty let them go back?"

Sima Qian, the king of Pingyuan, came out to speak at the right time.

"snort!"
Chapter completed!